Amaterasu
Amaterasu (天照), nicknamed Ammy by Issun, is the main protagonist of Okami. She is also known by villagers in her past life as Shiranui. Amaterasu is the Ōkami, the Sun God to all of Nippon, and the "origin of all that is good and mother to us all". Amaterasu doesn't talk, but she barks every time she attacks in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds. Backstory Amaterasu originally existed in the Celestial Plain, ruling over the Celestials and the mortal world as a protector deity. Alongside Waka, she battled Orochi, the eight-headed serpent who attacked and wreaked havoc upon the Celestial Plain. Waka told Amaterasu that Orochi could only be defeated by the Chosen One, a human named Nagi. Hearing this, she dragged Orochi down to the human world to wait for Nagi's birth. Meanwhile, Waka and the remaining Celestials fled into the Ark of Yamato, where all except Waka perished to an ambush of demons led by Yami, the ruler of darkness. With each passing year, Orochi dined on another maiden from Kamiki Village on the annual festival. Before every festival, Amaterasu appeared around the village in the form of a white wolf. The villagers assumed her to be Orochi's familiar, naming her Shiranui. Eventually, Nagi fought Orochi, and through his combined efforts with Shiranui, he was able to seal Orochi away. Shiranui, however, died from poisoned wounds inflicted during the battle. Taken back to the village, she was hailed as a hero, and a statue was built in her honor. However, after her death, her Celestial Brush powers had scattered, leaving her drastically weakened, with only her original ability, Sunrise. Furthermore, the peoples' faith in the gods had dwindled, leaving her even weaker. The main story of the game begins one hundred years after Shiranui's death. When Nagi's descendant, Susano, removes the sword Tsukuyomi that had sealed Orochi away, Orochi wastes no time in taking over Nippon once again. Sakuya, the wood sprite, revived Amaterasu within the statue of Shiranui, giving her the Reflector Divine Retribution. Together with Issun, a loudmouth Poncle found within Sakuya's robe, Amaterasu sets off to revive the Guardian Saplings scattered across Nippon and restore the lands to their original beauty and remove evil's hold. Throughout her journey, Amaterasu is reunited with many of her powers, and regains people's faith in the form of Praise. Eventually, Amaterasu, with the help of Susano, manages to destroy Orochi. She then continues her journey through Nippon, regaining more of her brush techniques, and further restoring people's faith and the lands. Finally, she finds herself in Kamui at the Ark of Yamato. Boarding it with Waka, she finds herself fighting previously defeated bosses, including Orochi. Then, she finally faces off against her archenemy, Yami. With the aid of all the people she met in the form of prayers, her power is fully restored and she is able to vanquish him. She and Waka then return to the Celestial Plain to restore it, and finally bring peace and harmony back to the world. Personality Amaterasu, in keeping with her wolf nature, is gentle, loving and utterly loyal to her friends (as shown when she wept with great sorrow in her refusal to let Issun go when she boarded the ark even though she knew well he could not go with her) but is crushing and relentless towards those with evil in their hearts. She at times falls asleep when people have long talks with her and so she may be easily bored. Perhaps due to Issun's encouragement of "Leap before you think.", she may have become more brash when dealing with certain situations. In-Game Story She is seen in the Episode 2 trailer aiding Captain America, Chun-Li, Trish and Tron Bonne against Doctor Doom's and Super Skrull's attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. She and Viewtiful Joe attack Super Skrull in mid-air by climbing up his flexible arms while Tron distracts him on the ground, but he turns invisible, causing them both to fall towards the Hudson River. Fortunately, they are both saved by the timely arrivals of Iron Man and Morrigan. Ending Issun: Hey, Ammy! Slow down, ya big furball! Can't we go at a, you know, more leisurely pace? Ka-Zar: You're the one who wanted to get out of the Savage Land as quickly as possible, Issun! Gwoaaaar! Issun: Ahhhhh! Ka-Zar: Looks like he's hungry. Come on, Shanna, Zabu, Amaterasu! Shanna: Alright, Ka-Zar! Zabu: Grrrrr! Amaterasu: Grrrrr! Awooooo! Issun: Huh!? You're gonna fight too, Ama!? Have it your way! But we're gonna have a talk once we make it back to Kamiki Village! Ka-Zar: ...Here he comes! Don't take him lightly! Gwoaaaaar! Issun: Ahhhhh! Gameplay Amaterasu is able to use the divine Celestial Brush and its plethora of nature based powers during combat. She also has Divine Instruments at her disposal. Attacks *'Weapon Change' - She can switch between her level 1 divine instruments (the first of each type she receives in Okami), Divine Retribution Reflector (Solar Flare), Tsumugari Glaive (Thunder Edge), or Devout Beads Rosary (Tundra Beads). *'Vine Brush - '''Air dash'. She grabs a flower that appears, which allows her to move quickly to the other side. *'''Head Charge - Headbutts the enemy. Light and medium versions strike horizontally and diagonally while heavy version knocks down. *'Galestorm' - Creates a strong wind that knocks the enemy back *'Power Slash' - A brush technique that creates a sheet of paper that slowly floats down. When an opponent comes in contact with it, they are damaged. *'Solar Flare '(Divine Retribution equipped) - Reflects the opponent's attacks. Light and medium versions counterattack with a pile driver attack while the heavy version reflects projectiles. *'Thunder Edge '(Tsumugari equipped) - A lightning quick slash with the Thunder Edge. Light version slashes horizontally, medium version hits diagonally, and heavy version slashes vertically. *'Glaive Chop '(Tsumugari equipped) - Unleashes a powerful, electrically charged slash downwards for multiple hits. Support Attacks *'Cold Star (Devout Beads Equiped) - '''She shoots a barrage of ice at her opponent using her Tundra Beads while the attack takes place. *'Solar Flare''' - Reflects opponent's projectiles to damage them instead. *'Bloom' - Builds meter. Hyper Combos *'Okami Shuffle (Level 1) -' Casts Fireburst, Icestorm, and Thunderbolt to strike the opponent. *'Veil of Mist (Level 1) -' Opponent's moves slower. *'Divine Instruments (Level 3) -' Unleashes a devastating combo with the Solar Flare, Tundra Beads, and the Thunder Edge. Tactics Amaterasu works best as a rushdown character, using her speed and small hit-box to close with the opponent and unleash fast combos. Care should be taken however, as Amaterasu lacks health. She also works well at range with her Devout Beads, as they give her long reach, quick, low-damage combinations, and lock the opponent into a standstill, allowing you to chain into a Power Slash, Hyper Combo, Assist, and so on. Using her Tundra Beads ability also provides some lock down and anti-air game. One can beat down, then chase opponents with her Vine. Theme Song Amaterasu's theme song in Marvel vs Capcom 3 is a dance-remix of The Sun Rises 'from the original Okami. [[Video:Marvel VS Capcom 3 - Amaterasu Theme|thumb|left|200px|'The Sun Rises remix]] Trivia *Amaterasu was confirmed on July 21, 2010 alongside Thor. *Her Marvel counterpart appears to be Thor, as they were announced as playable characters at roughly the same time, rather fitting, considering the fact that they are both benevolent gods who wield elemental powers (Amaterasu via the Celestial Brush, Thor via Mjolnir). *Aside from the octopuslike Shuma-Gorath, Amaterasu is the only other playable character that is non-humanoid (e.g. Celestial Wolf); the rest are humanoids capable of speech. *Judging by her character, Amaterasu joins the Lawful Good axis, existing as a benevolent goddess. *Her alternate costumes resemble three of the Satomi Canine Warriors from Okami (Gi, Chu(Hayabusa) and Jin(Ume)) *One of X-23's Victory Quotes makes a reference to Wolfsbane (Rahne Sinclair), a mutant that can change from human to wolf or in-between (which resembles a werewolf), specifically asking if Amaterasu is related to her. *In Amaterasu's ending, she is seen in Marvel's Savage Land, with Issun complaining about wanting to take a quicker way out. She is seen fighting alongside Ka-Zar, Shana, and Zabu against a dinosaur (both dialogue and moves implies that Amaterasu was taken sometime before she boarded the Ark of Yamato but after she aquired the Tundra Beads). *When being tagged in, Amaterasu is referred to by name (or at least part of it) the least out of all the characters. Instead, characters tend to refer to her as "dog." Hulk refers to her as "Dog", Felicia refers to her as "Puppy", and Trish refers to her as "Here Pooch". *For some reason though, Akuma calls Amaterasu "Devil" when she's the complete opposite, this is mostly because everything thats not human,or are devils(Dante and trish) will be called such. *Issun's after-match quote to Deadpool reveals that he is aware of Deadpool's obnoxious jokes, and is suprised he didnt say anything about Amateresu being a Dog in a fighting game. *Amaterasu's right(or left depending on direction facing) + H attack (and then repeatedly pressing H) performs her basic combo in okami for each weapon, The Devout Beads and Tsumugari even feature their in-game abilities which are the ability to hit multiple times with a single strike and the ability to charge each attack respectively *Oddly, Amaterasu has voice menus for both English and Japanese in the gallery, despite there being no difference between the two. Trailer thumb|300px|left Gallery Amaterasu,_Ryu,_Chun_Li,_Serverbots_and_Issun-MvC3.PNG|Issun, Amaterasu's bug-sized friend, is the glowing green orb. 4819001689_e8b0e3d566_b.jpg 4819001745_5924929cdf_b.jpg MARVEL VS. CAPCOM 3 - Amaterasu vs.jpg ame-noscale.jpg|Amaterasu's Alternate Costumes Category:Characters Category:Capcom Characters Category:MvC3 Characters Category:Good Alignment Category:Female Characters